self search​make it about a personal journey

When you have a neighbor tell you to turn off your output, there’s a good indication you have a problem. Recently a fellow hiker delivered this message in caps to my face, not a text. This was not her exact wording, but it was how I translated the message using tech terms as an overlay for personal experience (it’s my obsession). She apparently felt my streaming whitewater thoughts were disruptive, which was not my input, nor my intended output. This, along with some continuing buffering and bloatware in the system, caused me to realize that I wasn’t reaching optimal performance. I assumed there must be an output problem and began my search.

Here is TechTerm.com’s definition of output. “Output is data generated by a computer. This includes software level calculations (mathematical operations and search results), or at a physical level, like a printed document. Devices such as the printer, monitor and computer speakers are some common output devices. And here’s a simple tech definition for input. “Any data entered into a computer is referred to as input. Input can be something as simple as moving or clicking a mouse button, or as complex as scanning a document, or downloading photos, audio, and video.”

The definitions were straightforward and simple, but the word "data" seemed to play a key role, and I suspected a pivotal one. Merriam-Webster defines data as, “information output by a sensing device that includes useful and irrelevant or redundant information and must be processed to be meaningful." There you have it! The word meaningful is the culprit. Is there a more subjective word? It’s the variable that has to become a part of the calculation. Or not, I’m thinking now. Do I need to calculate all the variable responses to my output? Do I need to dilute the processing of my input in fear of another’s output?

Ideally, I think not. What is more fundamental to an individual than their perspective and how they view the world? It’s their pixel in this mosaic mainframe. For now, I will continue to process what I find to be meaningful. The input or output problem is resolved as long as I remember that meaningful is a variable in the calculation of communication – with others and with ourselves.

Leave a Reply.

SELF Search

We access the computer more readily than we do ourselves. LOG OFFis primarily about examining personal, authentic thoughts, ideas, and emotions - something a search engine can't do. This is what I'm exploring in the SELF Search Blog. Join me.